Nobody knows where you are
How near or how far
Shine on you crazy diamond.
— David Gilmour, Roger Waters, Rick Wright (Pink Floyd)

As we recover what Julia calls “A Sense of Autonomy,” we step it up, and embrace our very own, unique, quirky take on what Artist means. This is deeply individual, like a fingerprint of the Divine.

We may not ever, as artists, live in a house that looks like the pages of Architectural Digest. But we might. We may make a lot of money. We might not. It does not matter. We will get by because we have Big Help with deep pockets. And the rock bottom line is that we will have a chapbook of poetry, or a song, or a film.

“I must learn,” Julia declares and so do we, “that as an artist, my credibility lies with me, God/dess, and my work. In other words, if I have a poem to write, I need to write that poem – whether it will sell or not.

“I need to create what wants to be created. I cannot plan a career to unfold in a sensible direction dictated by cash flow and marketing strategies. Those things are fine, but too much attention to them can stifle the child within, who gets scared and angered when continually put off. Children, as we all know, do not deal well with “Later. Not now.’”

She reminds us that we have to give our artist top priority and lots of quality time that is not necessarily focused on productive results. We must allow ourselves play time, exploration. We need to do lots of really, really bad writing; horrible painting; ridiculously poor acting. “I have a right to do that to get to the other side. Creativity is its own reward.”

In addition we must do some house cleaning in our relationships. “As an artist, I must be very careful to surround myself with people who nurture my artist – not people who try to overly domesticate it for my own good. Certain friendships will kick off my artistic imagination and others will deaden it.”

There is going to be a lot more to think about regarding this last topic later, but I do encourage you to start (if you haven’t already) taking a look around at who you allow into your intimate circle. And consider the effect that they are having on your ability to make your art. Positive, negative, neutral, mixed bag, unknown?

Today, I encourage you to focus on this newly awakening wild side; the untamed artist who is finished forever with being told to wait, stand in line, or play small.

Instead, what one thing could you do today to encourage this wonderful, slightly crazy, eccentric, energized Creator? How does he or she want to shine? Similarly, if you were to have a tea party and invite your daemon and divine attendant spirits for a heart-to-heart chat, what would you talk about? What festive treats would you offer? And what might you ask of them?

These are such hot-button issues for me right now, since my artist is in the custody of an unhappy office drone all week, surrounded by EXTREMELY toxic people. But a girl’s gotta eat. I just want you to know I’m reading and learning from your posts, even if I’m not commenting. 🙂

Beth,
Once again you are right on with all this, in particular the timing. This is the exact time for all of this wild to transpire for everyone who is willing to engage. It can save us all.
Thanks again.
(oh, and love, love the quote today)